Can someone please explain my lab results??

[limitless1]

Hello Everyone, I signed up to see if someone here can better explain these lab results I just got back

A little background, I got a full std panel done last week.. I have had a headache for the better part of two weeks, no other symptoms whatsoever, but a headache is very unusual for me. My sexual past is a bit extensive so I decided I should get a test done. Today I got these results back and simply don't know what to make of them.. I am apparently still waiting for the HIV results, the office said those normally take a bit longer, and will be sent back in the next few days, is this true.. here are my results listed that I got today..

Hep B Surface antigen w/refl confirm
Hep B Surface Antigen - NON-REACTIVE

Hep C Antibody Signal - NON REACTIVE
Signal To Cut-Off 0.04

HSV1/2 IGG Type Specific AB Herpeselect
HSV 1 IGG Type Specific
AB                                             <0.90

HSV 2 IGG Type Specific
AB                                              1.98 H

Chlamydia
RMA TMA - NOT DETECTED

Neisseria Gonorrhoeae
RNA TMA - NOT DETECTED

RPR (DX) W/REFL TITER AND CONFIRMATORY TESTING - NON REACTIVE

Am I still waiting back for anything other than the hiv test? I got a full panel done..

I assume this means I have HSV2 ... I have zero symptoms, could this cause my headache though?

[limitless1]

Small update, HIV test came back negative. I have not yet gotten the herpes test re-run.

Although I have NEVER had any herpes symptoms down there... My headaches have gone away and I feel 100% now.

I am thinking it was probably nothing and a complete false alarm at this point.

[limitless1]

Thank you for the answer! I did have a fever the first few days of my headache, and I had some body stiffness. The flu has been going around and I know for a fact I have been in the vicinity of children and adults with the flu over the past month, is it possible this could be symptoms of that instead? I got worried because I am usually highly resistant to flu and cold, and I haven't had a headache in over 5 years. Definitely not a persistent one. If this is an HSV2 Infection, will my headache dissipate on its own..

My fever dissipated after a day or two with some OTC flu medicine.

The most recent risky sexual experience I had was about 2 and a half weeks before this test was done. A condom was used and there where no apparent signs of an outbreak or anything that looked of concern.

This is flat out scary, any chance you think my symptoms could be HIV related?

[HowardH]

Welcome to the forum.

All those results are negative except HSV2. And that result is only weakly positive. Officially result below 0.9 are negative, 0-9 - 1.1 equivocal, and over 1.1 positive. However, only values of 3.5 and higher are reliably positive. At 1.98, and no symptoms that suggest genital herpes, there's probably around a 50% chance you have HSV2.

To sort this out, you could start with repeat of the standard IgG test, the same one you already had. If that result is below 0.90, you can stop worrying. If significantly higher, and especially if over 3.5, it will confirm positive, probably indicating a recently acquired infection. If in roughly the same range as this test, you could then seek out an HSV Western blot test, the ultimate gold standard of HSV antibody testing.

Could your headache be related? Probably not. However, if it has been quite severe, if you have fever (or had fever the first few days of headache), and/or if there is also stiff neck, it is conceivable these were symptoms of a primary HSV2 infection, even without genital symtoms. This would also be supported if you had a risky sexual exposure in the 1-2 weeks before the headache started. If this is what's going on, you can expect the repeat blood test to have a stronger positive result than your first one.

Good luck!